downconverting HDV without prefilter

john-beale wrote on 2/15/2006, 6:51 PM

I'm using Vegas 6c to downconvert HDV to SD for making a DVD. If I don't prefilter it first I get horrendous moire artifacts which were not obvious in the original footage at HD resolution. Has anyone else experienced this?

This page shows what I am seeing:
http://www.bealecorner.com/fx1/HDV-detail/downconvert.html

-john

Comments

Laurence wrote on 2/15/2006, 8:12 PM

I'm noticing something like this as well, but not bad enough to call "horrendous". None the less I do see something negative that I didn't have with native SD resolution footage, especially in shots with lots of little detail like leaves or grass in the background.

johnmeyer wrote on 2/15/2006, 8:23 PM

Did you use Best when you rendered? You have to use the Best setting whenever downconverting, whether it is still images or video. If you don't, you'll get moire, etc.

fldave wrote on 2/15/2006, 8:34 PM

Also, you need to make sure the template you select has, on the Video tab, the "Video Quality" pegged to 31, High.

So "Best" with "Video Quality"=31.

Which template did you select? And did you verify the settings?

john-beale wrote on 2/16/2006, 9:18 AM

I did use "best" video quality. I'm not sure about the video quality slider from 1-31 (seems like it ought to default to best quality? I wonder how many Vegas users favor speed even if the quality is bad?) I do know part of the problem is in the DVD playback application. Nero Showtime 2 gives me bad results on the same file that WinDVD does much better with.

johnmeyer wrote on 2/16/2006, 12:48 PM

Your results should be near-perfect. Check those settings that fldave mentions and remember, NEVER USE THE DEFAULT TEMPLATE!!